• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.123-152
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• 2010

Concept of Open Innovation (OI) has recently prevailed in academia and industry as a model for increase in R&D productivity. This concept which in turn leads to an improvement in R&D investment efficiency has therefore drawn many firms to adopt this new model. And this has been the same for Korean firms since the extensive introduction of the OI concept in the early 2009. Yet, the problem with this is that the Korean firms do not know much about this concept in practice: what causes OI to occur, what the intended purpose of its introduction is, what proper procedures to take for a successful introduction, and so on. Based on LG Chem’s Open Innovation movement case which ignited in the late 2006, this paper answers the questions previously raised. The successful introduction was made possible by taking a proper procedure of change management along with a strong support from its senior management. This paper also identifies how the OI movement, which was a way to introduce new technology from the outside, has acted as a catalyst in forming a cooperative R&D atmosphere in LG Chem, and how the role of OI has transformed into a strategic tool for organization change.